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Sunday, 30 December 2012

Hoping everyone is enjoying the holiday season so far! As usual it is a busy time for us with a lot of visiting and parties. I guess you can't complain about that!

I have a quick project to share. I found this interesting store bought bag. What was interesting about this purse is it had a removable middle divider that when detached was a complete separate crossbody style bag.

Now, I loved the main bag but wasn't thrilled with the second inside purse. It was a laminated fabric I didn't like and a bit bulky when it was attached as a divider since it had a flat bottom. So of course I think to myself, I can remake it.. and I did.. I wanted to reuse parts of the store bought bag so I deconstructed it with my trusted seam ripper.

Here's a pic of the original interior bag. It has a zipper top that I had already started to open up.

My main goal was to save the straps. To do this I had to seperate the lining and the outside of the bag. I opened up the stitches across the zipper.

Then turned it inside out to get to the seams that held the straps in place. I was amused to find that a few staples were used to secure the straps!

Once those straps were released I was done with the original bag. I was thinking of reusing the lining but it decided not to in the end.

I then made a simple bag - really simple, two rectangles sewn together, with a magnetic snap for closure. The inside had a zipper pocket. It was made with a lovely purple faux leather.

On each side is a tab with a snap. This is how the bag attaches to the interior of the main purse. The original bag had these tabs attached together with the straps but my machine wouldn't handle thickness of the tap + strap so I installed them in separate locations.

Monday, 17 December 2012

Thought I would share small project I've been doing with my son. Both my husband and I have a large extended family who spoils the little ones in the family. I usually get my son to make something to give to each person or family at Christmas.

This year we are making these cute fingerprint magnets, one for each person.

Well, right now they are just finger print tiles, since the magnets are not glued on yet.

I used this book for ideas on what animals to make with finger and thumbprints.

I used these tiles purchased from our local hardware store and easily cut through the glue to separate each 2x2 tile.

With my direction, my son used acrylic paint to put finger prints on the tiles and I used Sharpies to draw in details.

I did have some issues with the Sharpies working on the paint so I probably should have used some other kind of paint. Or perhaps the finish on the the tiles was the problem as the paint sometimes would get scrapped off by the marker.

Here are a few close ups of my favourites. The car is Lightning McQueen at my son's request.

We still have about 20 more to make... They don't take too much time to do, but my son being 3.5 years old, gets bored and so we have being doing them in batches.

Friday, 7 December 2012

This week I'm sharing a blog/site that is probably known to most people who enjoy bagmaking.. But for those that don't you MUST visit it..

UHandbag is written by Lisa Lam, author of two bagmaking books. So obviously she has a lot to say about the topic! She has many free bag tutorials on her blog too. I really need to order a frame and supplies to try out her Graceful Kelly bag, it's one of my favourite on her site.

A fun section Lisa has showcase some of the bags other people have made. Lots of eye candy

Monday, 3 December 2012

I'll admit, I buy quite a few bags and purses. I think in the last year, I (or my husband) bought 5 bags for myself. (including the ones I'm going to tell you about below)

This weekend I went to a warehouse sale for ESPE . I had just discovered this company and wanted to buy some of their wallets as Christmas gifts. However going to the sale, I knew there was a good chance I'd pick up something for myself.

And I did.. two somethings.. a small purse and a convertible tote. I could only find a photo of the tote online.

At the core, it's simple bag - it's even unlined. Material is a faux leather with suede like backing. It can be a tote of several different sizes, a crossbody bag or shoulder bag. It comes with a detachable zipper pouch that can be attached on the inside or outside of the bag or be worn as a small crossbody purse. (I'm was quite tickled to see this as I've done the detachable pouch myself on a previous bag)

I did debate on buying it as I have made bags somewhat similar (albeit not as professional looking). I ended up taking it home in the green colour. I love the feel and colour of the material. And the price at the sale was about 1/3 of the regular price! It was hard to resist.

The irony of it is each time when I spend a little too much at the fabric store, I justify it by saying I won't buy another purse for x amount of time.. I don't think I've held up the other side of that bargain!

Oh and the other purse I bought, I've told my husband to wrap it up as my son's Christmas gift to me.. :)

How about you.. do you buy bags (or other goods) for yourself, even though you make them?

Note: I have no affiliation to ESPE (Although I would love to, they have some great bags. haha)

Sunday, 2 December 2012

Thought I would offer it as a free download to any fellow bagmakers who would like some fun art in their sewing room. Click on the image below to get to the full size image and save it. Print at 11x14.